Bee Benefits and Blocks

Do you belong to a quilting bee? If not, I encourage you to join one or think about starting your own.

This year I participated in two bees. The Mid Century Modern Bee is an online group of mostly US quilters with an Aussie and a Canadian thrown in for good measure. I love the international connection and getting to know another point of view on quilting. We work primarily from our stash which is nice as there are no fabrics to prepare and send out. Next year will mark our third year together.  We've had a few changes over time as people choose to move on.  Next year I will miss Debbie and Linda who are both very talented quilters. Can't wait to meet them in person at QuiltCon. I'd like to welcome our new members, Stephanie, Elizabeth and Michelle. Look forward to getting to know you.

Here are my most recent MCM blocks. The first is a pineapple block for Elizabeth for November. Even though we usually work from our own stash, Elizabeth actually sent the fabric strips all cut and ready along with the paper piecing pattern. She really made it easy for us and yet I still managed to mess up a bit. A little of the ink from the paper pattern transferred to the front of the block. Hopefully it will work for her but I will gladly make another if necessary. Really, I will.

The second MCM block is for Rene'. She requested a Dresden block based on the colors of this Design Seed color palette. Love these colors.

I've never made either of these blocks so it was a great opportunity to learn something new. Of the two, I don't think I'd make another pineapple as paper piecing isn't my favorite but I really enjoyed the Dresden block and could easily see making more of them. Having the Dresden ruler by Darlene Zimmerman made cutting the wedges easy peasy.

My second bee is with my local Boulder Modern Quilt Guild. For this bee we provide the fabric and directions so you pretty much know what you're going to get back. I joined this one a little on the late side so my turn fell at the end and my Scrappy Trip Blocks are still coming in. Here's what I have so far thrown up on the design wall. I'll probably play with the layout after I get all the blocks. I'm loving how they look together and will most likely finish this one up as a charity quilt.

The biggest challenge for me in participating in a bee has been getting the blocks done and sent off on time. I've been able to keep up with getting the blocks done during the month they are due but am sorry to say I've fallen into the bad habit of not getting them sent out on time. My November block for Elizabeth was done well ahead of time and yet I am just now getting it mailed. Sorry Elizabeth. On the plus side though is that I will be mailing Rene's December block at the same time.

There are so many benefits to participating in a bee. Here are just a few.

• Of course the obvious benefit is having help making blocks for your quilt.
• The chance to try a palette/block/quilt you might not venture to make all on your own.
• The chance to have a wider variety of fabrics if you work from your stash like MCM does.
• The chance to make a quilt block you've never made before. Some you will love, others maybe not so much, but at least you'll have had the experience of trying them.
• And the best thing of all is expanding your circle of quilty friends be they local or even international. Quilty friends are the best!

The friends I've made in the online bee are so special to me. After quilting all by myself for years, the online community was the first place I found friends who share my passion. Many of us will be attending QuiltCon and I can hardly wait to meet these women in person. Plus I now have the fun of a local quilting community too through the Modern Quilt Guilds. The best of both worlds.

So if you're looking toward your quilting goals for the new year, think about joining a bee. I'm definitely glad I joined . . .  : )

Linking up at the last minute with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.
I'm also linking up with Scraptastic Tuesday over at She Can Quilt. I'd like to make using my scraps and my stash a big priority for 2015 and these scrappy posts by Leanne are really inspiring me.

WIP Wednesday

Don't be too shocked . . . I've written two post in two days after two weeks of being missing in action. October is my month to be queen bee in both the bees I belong to. My first thought was to have both groups do the same block so I'd have enough for a bigger sized quilt. Sounded good but in the long run I opted for different blocks from each group.

I'm having my local modern guild make Scrappy Trip Around the World blocks in blues, aquas and greens. It will probably become a baby sized quilt for a charity donation somewhere down the road. I didn't realize just how many aquas and greens I really had until I pulled them out to press and cut the strips. It would have been easier if they hadn't needed pressing in order to cut accurate strips. Made quite the mess. A good mess but a mess none the less.

I'd like to dig into my older fabrics and cut tons of strips to make more scrappy trip blocks and use up the stash bit by bit. I really love the look of all Scrappy Trip quilts and it's a perfect block for making a block here and there when time allows. Especially if the strips are cut and ready. If you haven't already tried this method by Quiltville, here's the tutorial link. If only I had a few quilty elves to cut and clean up for me while I sleep, I'd get lots of blocks made and use up lots of fabric.  : )

My other bee is an online group where we work from our stash so it offered the perfect chance to test a new block design and see what develops when a scrappy approach is used. Don't know what to expect but it will be fun to play once all the blocks arrive. I'm loving this gray/green combo.

In the mean time it's nice not to have blocks to make this month. Gives me time to work on my QuiltCon entries. I'm still hoping to get a couple of quilts done in time to enter. I also just designed a quilt for our modern guild to enter in the QuiltCon charity challenge. We'll be starting it at the next sew day toward the end of the month. Like always, I love the design part . . . just need to get more of the sewing done.

Linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced. Always fun to see what everyone is working on.

Catching Up, Getting Ahead

July was simply non existent around here in so many ways. I didn't blog, I didn't read many blogs, I didn't even sew much other than what had to be done. It wasn't a planned absence . . . but perhaps I needed the break. As of today, I've cleaned the studio, gotten a few things organized and am ready to jump back in. A workshop with Latifah Saafir is coming up in a couple of weeks. Technical issues on my patterns need to be solved, a submission needs to get written up and new designs are just waiting to become new quilts. One of those ideas just might involve these beautiful Kaffe blues. I have soooo many ideas. Wish I could just do them all.

I'm also embarrassed to say that since joining two bees I have become the queen of procrastination. ok ok, I was already a procrastinator, the bee commitment just amplified the bad habit. Sigh . . . .

Almost without fail, I have waited until the very end of the month to get my blocks done. My only excuse is that I wanted to see what other bee members were doing before making mine so I wouldn't use the "wrong" fabric. We work from our stash in the Mid Century Modern Bee and I wanted to be sure my choices weren't too far off. In the Boulder Modern Quilt Guild bee, the fabric is provided, so I can't really use that excuse.

Anyhoo, this past month things really slipped as I didn't even get my block for Suz done in the month it was due . . . it was due in July and needed mailing to Australia. I finally buckled down and not only caught up but got ahead of the game. Feels soooo good to have both July and now August blocks done. WaHoo!!!!  Here they are.

Mid Century Modern Bee blocks:

The first one was for Suz of Patchwork 'n Play. She originally didn't want us to make anything for her since she was on holiday and wanted to give the rest of us a month off for the summer. (I took the month off anyway Suz) We talked her out of it so she asked for a star block of our choice in solids with a black background. I think she's going to have a very Amish style quilt when all the star blocks come together. I chose the Martha Washington Star and used this tutorial to make the 12" block.

These sweet little blocks are for Mary of Molly Flanders.  Super simple HST units yet very fun when lots of prints are brought together. Mary wanted scrappy prints with light shades of blush in the background to set them off. Of course I had to throw in a touch of Kaffe. I work a bit of his prints into every bee block I can as a little reflection of me and my style.

Boulder Modern Quilt Guild Bee blocks:
Various log cabin blocks for Cynthia using the blues, grays and greens she provided along with a few of my own fabrics. I love the unusual fabric prints in the mix. She dyes and prints a lot of her own fabric and they have a wonderful look.

Next came a scrappy cross done for Denise of Every Hour Here. Denise is the queen of I Spy quilts which she makes on a commission basis so the scrappy style is so her. She's also a master scrapbooker and blogs about Project Life on her blog.

These off center log cabin blocks in solid yellow and gray are for Amanda. They aren't really due till September since we have no August sew day. Feels really good to have these done so early.

Well, that about does it. It feels so good to know I'm caught up and even ahead for this month. They have even been mailed.

My months are coming up in Sept and October for both bees so I think I'll have both groups do the same block and capitalize on getting more blocks for the bang. The hard part is deciding what to have everyone do.

If you do bees, do you have a hard time choosing a block? I have several ideas but can't decide. Time to narrow it down and make a choice. But I'll probably procrastinate that too . . .  : )

Adding my link to Amandajean's Finish it Up Friday.
Something went crazy with the Bloglovin link that I can't fix. I'm really not trying to beat you over the head to become a follower. Promise.

WIP Wednesday

Time for more house blocks.

I belong to two bees and over the past year have made house blocks three separate times. Seems quilting up a neighborhood of houses is popular. They certainly do make for a very fun quilt. Perhaps some day I'll dream up my own neighborhood now that I finally don't mind making them.

You might remember they weren't my favorite block to make. For my first house block I did a completely improv method with no planning and was not thrilled with the results. For my second house block I used a paper piecing method and was much happier. This time, I used a method from the book Collaborative Quilting by Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston. If you aren't familiar with Freddy and Gwen's books I highly recommend them. I have both books and can tell you they are full of colorful, happy, scrappy quilts.

Now don't get me wrong, house blocks are not hard to make. It's just taken me three tries to get the hang of it. Third time's a charm right? Freddy and Gwen's method is basically improv but somehow it just came together easier than the first time.

These houses are for Wendy as part of our Boulder Modern Quilt Guild Bee. She gave us all a pile of scraps and the basic info from the book with an anything goes directive. When I opened up my fabric pile I saw lots of blue and aquas. The prints and colors had a very beachy feel so I threw in a little island floral print for a couple of them to add some punch.

With the little scraps left, I managed to squeeze out a third block too. For this last one, I just had to add some water. In retrospect a bit of beach between the house and water might have been good. With the flooding we had around here earlier late last year it just might be interpreted wrong. Maybe I'll still go back and try some sand. What do you think?

Here they are all together. Hope Wendy likes them. It will be fun to see everyone's houses in a couple of weeks when we have our next sew day with the Boulder Modern Quilt Guild. If you are anywhere near Boulder, CO we'd love to have you visit us. Check out the link above for more info.

Linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced. Hop over and see what's going on in blogland.

First Bee, First Block

I'm so excited to be participating in my very first quilting bee. The Mid Century Modern Bee was pulled together by Cindy over at Live A Colorful Life and I'm thrilled that she invited me. She brought together 13 talented quilters that I really look forward to working with. The mid century reference has a little something to do with our ages . . . enough said.  : )

We started off the year with a great little scrappy pink, orange, white, red block requested by Carla at Lollyquiltz. Here's my block. It was fun to make with a nice clear tutorial from Carla. I just love this color scheme. I actually have a couple of quilts in the design/planning stage that use the same general scheme so it was fun to pick the fabrics for this block and explore the colors a bit.

All the other blocks are really nice so I think Carla's quilt is going to be one hot little number when she gets done. Can't wait to see her finished quilt.